[Jellybean24]

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I recently purchased a silver crosstour at the end of September and she absolutely loves it. However, we've found a couple issues isolated to the rear of the car. First, we got the same issue we had with our former '08 accord coupe, tailight chipping. Both sides have about 1/2 inch line from the brake light pushing up. I'm not worried as this is a easy fix.

What is more concerning right now is after washing our car last week, we noticed some orange spots in an area you would rarely look. Where the rear glass and metal hatch meet, there is a small gap unlike normal hatchbacks. Same goes for the little window below the spoiler. In the gaps of the large rear glass and small rear glass, we have 10-15 little rust flakes probably due to rail dust during shipping. Normally, a clay bar would do the trick, but I cannot fit it between the rear glass and metal side.

I wanted to know if anyone else has looked (probably not as it's a tight space) and second, what other options we have than wait for the dust to eat through the clear and base paint to do real damage. We plan to ask the dealership if they will help out as the area infected is impossible to reach using a claybar. Otherwise, I'd clay the area myself.

I looked at some priuses and insights with a similar rear hatch and they don't leave gaps like the crosstour. Hopefully, this is isolated, but not liking the idea of these metal dust particles eating through our new car's paint.

Sorry for the length as we love the car, but not these little rust spots that I can't get to.

L and D

 

[Army Dad]

Nothing on mine Jellybean. I see the crevices and some dirt but nothing that looks orange. Being new to Georgia I've had to become adjusted to the red clay that is all around. It loks orange when it is dry and sticks to everything. Maybe when the transporter drove south it picked some up as it has been very dry here and the clay dust is flying. Kind of a longshot but maybe some real pressure with a hose and wipe what you can in the area. Worth a shot.

Please let us know what you find out.

 

[chefmark]

Would a buffer work, One of the 6 inch Dual Orbital such as FLEX XC 3401. It might be able to reach.

 

[RyansQuick6]

I clay barred ours the day we got it home. Raildust loves to settle into new paint, and I've seen it do some nasty stuff in the past, so now I always clay our new cars. It pulls all the trash out and gives you a super clean surface to apply waxes/sealers/polishes, etc.

 

[Jellybean24]

After washing our car for the second time in the Florida sun this morning we found more rail dust on the roof, front hood, and side of the car.

We stopped by the dealer this morning again and another crosstour (red) was there for chipping tail lights too. The regional director is coming on Wednesday to look at the rail dust and the chipping tail lights. The service manager told us that they have a detail company they use who will likely take care of the rail dust and the chipped paint will be taken care of at the body shop.

Having had an '08 accord coupe with chipped paint, I'm not worried about that as much as I am getting the dust completely off the car. I heard the ABC method is best which requires an acid and neutralizing wash to get all rust particles out as clay barring only gets the surface dust off, not everything embedded. This is what we'll be looking to have done.

This is the first car out of the six we've had together to get this rail dust problem. We've learned something new to look for in future purchases.

Overall, after 1700 miles the CT is averaging 25mpg with 70% highway and is a joy to drive!

 

[Jellybean24]

The regional director saw the car and approved getting the tailights repainted and blended as well as a complete detail with clay and polish to remove the rail dust on the car.

I hope all looks good after it's done! My wife misses her bean and doesn't care for the newer CRV loaner.

 

[veasnalong]

The regional director saw the car and approved getting the tailights repainted and blended as well as a complete detail with clay and polish to remove the rail dust on the car.

I hope all looks good after it's done! My wife misses her bean and doesn't care for the newer CRV loaner.

sounds good please keep us update

 

[Jellybean24]

Good news. The service manager and regional director were great to us. The taillight chips were blended and look good. We discovered the fall-out in the paint was caused by steel wool pads used on the windows when they did the initial clean. The tiny bits got on the paint around the window areas and the Florida sun baked them in from June-Sept, 22 when we purchased the car. The body shop did a complete fall-out rinse as they call it and then re-waxed the car and put a protective coating on again. The car was shiny and very smooth at pick up!

We're still averaging 25mpg overall and very happy considering all the heavy traffic it sits in each day.

 

[veasnalong]

Good news. The service manager and regional director were great to us. The taillight chips were blended and look good. We discovered the fall-out in the paint was caused by steel wool pads used on the windows when they did the initial clean. The tiny bits got on the paint around the window areas and the Florida sun baked them in from June-Sept, 22 when we purchased the car. The body shop did a complete fall-out rinse as they call it and then re-waxed the car and put a protective coating on again. The car was shiny and very smooth at pick up!

We're still averaging 25mpg overall and very happy considering all the heavy traffic it sits in each day.

Cool,, I'm glad nothing major

 

[Army Dad]

Glad to hear it worked out Jellybean. And they did good detective work finding the culprit. I lived in South Florida for over 30 years and remember well the special issues involved with the hot sun.

 

[JubileeJack]

...Where the rear glass and metal hatch meet, there is a small gap unlike normal hatchbacks...

I know I am late to the game but I have the same problem spot on the hatch where glass meets metal and it 's on both edges, left and right. I thought it was from the hatch glass possibly rubbing/vibrating under certain condition as this was common on the current generation Subaru WRX, and basically a design flaw.